Effect of Aerobic Training on Body Composition among Sedentary Women of Manipur

Abstract

Physical fitness was an important aspect for leading a complete life. Women, in general, have lesser involvement on a physical fitness regime. To maintain the youthfulness of body, regular physical activity and exercise was a key ingredient. This study aims to assess the effect of aerobic training on body composition among sedentary women of Manipur. The study made random inclusion of subjects who volunteer to participate in the training programme from Lairikyengbam Leikai, Imphal East District Manipur. Totally 30 subjects of age 46.5±4.9 years who volunteer to participate in the training were selected and minimize as control group and experimental group with N=15 each. Medical examination was conducted prior to training under registered practitioner. The training intensity was determining by using Karvonen formula. The training was given for 8 weeks regularly for 3 days alternately to determine the changes brought by training on body fat and fat free mass. The measurement was done before training as baseline score and after completion of 8 weeks as final score using Bio Electrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) method, TANITA TBF300. The paired t test was used to analyze the data at a 0.05 level of significance for pre-and post-difference comparisons, followed by an independent t test to compare the mean difference between groups using SPSS software20. It shows statistically significant decrease in body fat (P<0.05) while fat free mass shows statistically not significant (P>0.05). It also shows that fat mass has a significant difference between the experimental and control groups while fat free mass shows no significant difference between groups. The result indicates that aerobic training can be an effective program for body fat reduction and positively alter one's body composition.